3. Customer service: When the only utility available has lousy customer service, nobody is surprised. They don’t even pretend to care – they know they have you over a barrel. With all these new players in town, however, it’s a slap in the face to be treated like royalty until you’ve signed on the dotted line and now they won’t even return your calls or the person on the phone can’t string three English words together or if he does speak English, he’s brand new and panicking trying to pull up your account information.

In summary, fixed-rate plans provide a level of certainty and stability in your energy charge since the price will not fluctuate over the life of your contract. If prices suddenly spike, you are protected because your rate is locked in. The flip side is that if rates drop over the life of your contract, you’ll be stuck paying the higher rate. You can incur steep cancellation fees if you change electricity plans or providers before the end of your contract term.

Nebraska is the only state that generates electricity entirely by publicly-owned power systems. As of 2017, the statewide average electricity price is the sixteenth-lowest rate in the country, based on the latest federal figures. Nationally, electricity costs 15 percent more than it does in Nebraska. Across all sectors, Hawaii has the highest electricity rate (26.07 cents), and Louisiana has the lowest electricity rate (7.75 cents).
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Fixed-rate plans: Fixed-rate plans give customers more stability for their monthly energy bills because the rate a customer signs up with is the rate he or she pays for the length of the plan’s contract. Most fluctuation comes with usage, though transmission and delivery charges and local fees also can change.. Because a fixed-rate plan sometimes spans two-three years, these plans often require a customer credit check and can include early cancellation fees. Fixed-rate plans, because of the continuing market volatility, probably are the best choice for many consumers.
Technology that now allows smaller quantities of power to be generated closer to the end-users at prices not too much higher than grid-based power are undermining those economies of scale. More efficient turbines, for example, allow large power users like cement plants and petrochemical factories to come off the grid. Today the limiting factor for large companies to come off the grid often isn’t the efficiency of the power generation technology, but the lack of easy availability of fuel, such as gas or coal to power these turbines Even this problem is being solved by innovations like mini-liquefied natural gas projects.

1. Contracts: Before, there were no contracts. You signed up or you didn’t. When it’s the only game in town, you have to play by their rules. Nowadays, you’ll see these ultra-fabulous rates bandied about but it’s only by carefully scrutinizing the fine print that you’ll discover those wonderful rates come with a one-year lock-down or other catches.

The weakest S&P 500 subsector during 2014 was Oil and Gas Drilling, down 46%, which wasn’t very surprising, considering the price of oil dropped 50% from its peak in June through the end of the year. That subsector has risen 6% this year through Monday’s close, showing that there’s plenty of buying taking place. Most other subsectors within energy declined last year, but only three have risen so far in 2015.

You betcha! Most Texas electricity suppliers offer plans that include a percentage of energy sourced from renewable resources, such as hydro power, wind power and solar power. Some are totally sourced that way. These plans are a great way for Texas energy customers to help the environment without breaking the bank. In addition to green energy plans, many Texas suppliers give customers the option to purchase renewable energy certificates, or RECs, that further offset customers’ carbon emissions. The purchase of RECs also helps fund research and usage of renewable energy sources, so that Texas can stay at the forefront of eco-friendly power technology.
Are you a journalist or researcher writing about this topic who needs to know more about historical rates? Send us details about what you need and we'll get back to you with an answer and a relevant quote from one of our rate experts. You should also check out the Choose Energy Data Center for more statistics and analysis centering on energy in the U.S.
Whether you live in a large city or small town, we can save you money! Where do we provide Texas electricity? We service customers in more than 400 deregulated communities in Texas. We work with principal utilities throughout the state of Texas to provide prepaid electricity. The utilities are: Oncor in the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex and various parts of West Texas; CenterPoint Energy in Houston and the surrounding areas; AEP Central in Corpus Christi and surrounding areas; AEP North in Abilene and other North Texas communities.
Excessive Total Harmonic Distortions (THD) and not unity Power Factor (PF) is costly at every level of the electricity market. Cost of PF and THD impact is difficult to estimate, but both can potentially cause heat, vibrations, malfunctioning and even meltdowns. Power factor is the ratio of real to apparent power in a power system. Drawing more current results in a lower power factor. Larger currents require costlier infrastructure to minimize power loss, so consumers with low power factors get charged a higher electricity rate by their utility.[130] True power factor is made of displacement power factor and THD. Power quality is typically monitored at the transmission level. A spectrum of compensation devices[131] mitigate bad outcomes, but improvements can be achieved only with real-time correction devices (old style switching type,[132] modern low-speed DSP driven[133] and near real-time[134]). Most modern devices reduce problems, while maintaining return on investment and significant reduction of ground currents. Power quality problems can cause erroneous responses from many kinds of analog and digital equipment, where the response could be unpredictable.

The average home in the U.S. consumes 897 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per month. Bills vary by state and region, as cost per kWh differs. To estimate average energy bills, multiply the average home’s electricity usage (897 kWh) by the cost per kWh in your state for that month. For example, the average cost per kWh in July for Colorado homes was 12.67 cents, which amounts to an average bill of about $113.65 (12.67 cents x 897 kWh) that month.

On the other hand, month-to-month variable rate (no-contract) plans don’t have cancellation fees. You won’t be penalized if you find a better deal elsewhere and want to make another switch. And, you won’t be stuck paying more than you should be if the market rate for electricity trends down. But, if it goes up, you’ll be paying more than your in-contract neighbors, and you’ll likely want to shop around again for a better deal.

The two most common distinctions between customer classes are load size and usage profile. In many cases, time-of-use (TOU) and load factor are more significant factors than load size. Contribution to peak-load is an extremely important factor in determining customer rate class. Consumer loads may be characterized as peak, off-peak, baseload, and seasonal. Utilities rate each load differently, because each has different implications for a power system.

Since consumer demand directly affects energy rates, it’s important to note seasonal trends of demand throughout the year. Overall, demand tends to be higher during the winter and summer months and lower during the fall and spring months. This pattern isn’t shocking since it’s normal for people to require more energy during extreme heat and extreme cold.
You can sort, filter, and shop by pricing at YOUR specific usage level, which lets you shop and compare electricity plans based on the rates you’ll actually experience on your bill, inclusive of hidden fees and taxes. This ensures you’re not misled by the cheaper rates often advertised by electric providers…those “teaser rates” associated with higher usage levels that many households never enjoy because their usage level never reaches that pricing tier.
We carefully screen Texas electricity providers in your area. Then, we list electricity rates and plans from top providers in a user-friendly format on our website, so you can compare the information. We handle the complex concerns and considerations, so you don’t have to. With our assistance, you no longer need to track down different electricity companies, rates, and plans, because we provide all the information you need to choose the best provider.
Dallas area residents now have the option for choosing their electric provider. However, with all of the different plans that are available, it can be difficult to make the right decision for your particular electricity needs. You may find yourself overwhelmed by the number of options presented to you by all the electric company advertisements or concerned about shady marketing gimmicks.